One Special Zorro Night
by mjf2468
Summary: Yet another version of Diego and Victoria taking shelter in an abandoned windmill. How the episode "One Special Night" could have ended, with a reveal. Diego does not want to wait any longer for a life with Victoria.


Summary: Yet another version of Diego and Victoria taking shelter in an abandoned windmill. How the episode "One Special Night" could have ended, with a reveal. Diego does not want to wait any longer for a life with Victoria.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement meant with story. Characters owned by ZPI

"Is there something you want, something you really, really want," Victoria leaned over and asked Diego, her beautiful brown eyes wide.

Diego looked into the eyes of the woman he loved, and reviewed the events that had led up to this moment. Her decision to join him on the trip to see the emissary, his insistence on heading back to the pueblo that night despite the threat of bad weather, their need to take shelter, by themselves, from the storm in an abandoned windmill.

Diego sighed, and suddenly the waiting, the longing of the past five years caught up to him. He could not, would not, pass up the opportunity to finally tell her what it was that he wanted.

"You, only you."

Victoria leaned back, in surprise, shaking her head and then returned Diego's gaze. She could not believe that he indeed had taken the bait she had given him to reveal his true feelings.

The overwhelming need to do so had been brought on by the onslaught of feelings she had felt as she watched Diego with the emissary this afternoon. He had been so strong, so persuasive in his discussion with the emissary. It had reminded Victoria of the young, brash man who had left for Spain seven years ago, taking her heart with him. She had realized, at that moment, how much she missed that young man. Instead, a sedate, scholarly man who professed distaste for fighting and getting involved in dangerous things had returned. That man had become a much closer, dearer friend to her over the years, but yet she had fallen in love with the dashing Zorro.

Victoria asked, as if in a trance, "Whaaat…what did you say?"

Diego got up and took a seat next to her on that bench. "I said, the only thing I want in this world is you. I have loved you every day since I returned from Spain. Actually, I loved you since we were young, and you fell out of that tree while trying to keep up with your brothers and me."

"Why didn't you say something?"

Now I have done it, Diego thought. What was he supposed to say? Maybe he should just say it. Should he finally tell her the truth about Zorro, and change their lives forever? Could his heart take her rejection and anger if she refused him?

A small flicker of hope burst into flame in his chest. Maybe he had been wrong in his assumption that she would reject him. After all, they were friends. Good friends. She depended upon him for advice much of the time. And there were those times over the years Victoria had appeared jealous whenever a woman had shown him attention.

Meeting her beautiful eyes, Diego allowed all of his love for her to show through his for the first time without the mask. "I was afraid."

Victoria looked into his eyes again, wondering if he would say the words. She needed to hear him say them. Suddenly her stubbornness reared its ugly head. She was not going to make it easy for him; he at least owed her that. "Of what, Diego? Is there something you need to tell me?" She thought wryly, "I at least have to get him on the topic, or we might be here all night."

Diego leaned slightly away from her, shock appearing and then disappearing on his face. Did she, could she, know? Swallowing hard, he decided that all the lies would end tonight.

"Yes, there is." Victoria then smiled encouragingly at him, and Diego took another breath. "I no longer want to hide myself from you, Victoria. Like I said, I have loved you for what seems like forever. When I returned from Spain, the moment I saw you in the tavern, all I wanted was to settle down, marry you, and have those grandbabies Father has forever harassed me about."

"What happened? I don't recall getting a proposal from you in all these years?" Victoria kidded softly.

"The Alcalde happened. I was all set to stand up against him, alongside my father, as he had planned when he had called me back from Spain. But then the Alcalde threatened me after he had jailed you and my father. So, what else could I do? If I had stood up against him, my family would have lost everything."

Looking down at their enjoined hands, Diego raised her hand to his lips and placed a tender kiss on the back of her hand. A slight blush colored Victoria's cheeks, "Are you trying to distract me, Diego?"

"No, but I get the feeling you know what I am about to say. How long have you known?"

Victoria thought she should tease him a little longer, considering everything he had put her through in the past three years. "Known what, Diego?"

Diego shook his head. This most beautiful, aggravating, exciting woman he had ever known knew his secret, of that he was certain. But he did owe her the confession. "That I am Zorro."

"There. Was that so difficult to tell me?" Victoria took her hand out of his grasp and stood up and walked over to the wall. A part of her leapt for joy because the love of her life and her best friend were indeed the same person. However, anger flared up within her just as quickly, swallowing up that joy. Facing him, she replied, "Why did it take you so long to tell me?"

Shaking his head in wonderment at how quickly her moods could change, Diego then asked, "Well, tell me, how long have you known?"

"I should not let you turn this upon me, but I have had my suspicions for a while now, but it was this afternoon that I finally put it all together. Seeing you in front of the emissary, how powerful and masterful you were, you were like that young man who had left for Spain all those years ago. I again wondered about how much you had changed in the three years you were gone. I could never understand where that impetuous boy who was always the leader disappeared to."

"I am so sorry, Victoria, for deceiving you for so long…."

"But you did! And then you romanced me behind a mask, making me believe you were two different people." Victoria crossed her arms in front of her and glared at Diego, daring him to explain himself.

"I only had planned on being Zorro for such a short time. I guess I only thought as far as getting you and Father out of jail. You then began to flirt with me…."

"Oh, don't you put this upon me! Are you saying that this is my fault?" Victoria glared at Diego, her eyes dancing with righteous indignation

"No, Victoria," Diego pleaded. "I am just trying to explain why I let it go on for so long. I got lost in your eyes…."

"Don't try to get out of this with compliments!"

Diego ran his hand through his hair, distracting Victoria for a moment. Suddenly all she wanted was to kiss him and run her fingers through that thick, dark, luscious hair she had been denied all those other times when he wore the mask. "Victoria, I love you, but you are driving me crazy." He turned, and found himself with an armful of his love, who was then covering his face with kisses.

"You _will_ be the death of me yet." Diego, in spite of himself, pushed Victoria away so he could get her full attention. "How can you be so angry at me one minute and then attack me with kisses the next?"

"I have been so conflicted. I have been fighting this attraction to you, Diego, for awhile now, thinking I was going crazy in falling in love with someone so totally different from Zorro. I am sorry, Diego, but you have often driven _me_ crazy with your indifference to the problems of the pueblo. However, I have begun to wonder about how you actually do a lot for the pueblo around here, and how often you push aside the credit."

A thrill passed through Diego at the words he had only dreamed of hearing. "I had to. I have often gotten so tired of not being the person I truly want to be, especially in front of you and my father. So many times, I have only been able to do what I want for the pueblo when I tied it to the 'unheroic' activities of book learning or the arts."

"We are going to have a lot of things to discuss, but for now, I just want to know one thing," Victoria returned to Diego's side on the bench, took him by the shoulders, and said, "When can we get married?"

"You still want to marry me?"

"Of course I do. Now that I know the two men I love are actually just sides of one magnificent, wondrous, most complicated man, there is no one else I would rather spend my life with."

Diego allowed himself to succumb to temptation and met her lips for a most wonderful kiss. "With that, we also have a lot to discuss. We have to convince the Alcalde and everyone else that you have fallen out of love with Zorro and in love with the coward of the pueblo. Otherwise, I will end up at the end of the Alcalde's noose, and I absolutely refuse for that to happen now that I have finally captured the love of my life's heart."

A flash of fear crossed Victoria's features. All of a sudden her natural confidence disappeared. "How can I keep your secret? How will I be able to hide my love for you in order to make this succeed?"

Diego smiled at his love. "Oh, Victoria, I am certain you will be able to pull it off. Hopefully it will not be too long. Unless…." a look of mischief entered his eyes.

Victoria cocked her head and looked at the handsome man. "And what are you thinking, Diego? I see that look in your eyes."

"Well, here we are, you and me, in this deserted windmill, all by

ourselves….."

"Diego! Are you suggesting…." as a dark blush covered her face.

Diego jumped. "No, not that! I mean, even though I would be tempted, what I meant was that just the hint of scandal could mean we would have to be married, even if nothing happens tonight." Diego sighed. "We need to think about this, about the long-term implications of such a thing. How people would view both of us."

"I don't care as long as I have you by my side, and we can get married sooner than later. We have waited so long, Diego, and…"

"We would still have to act a part, though. In this scenario, we would not be getting married for love. I could not act upon my feelings for you in public, and I am not sure I could do that."

"The rumor is, however, that you have been sweet on me for quite a while, you know," Victoria said with a small smile and a sideways glance.

"There is also the rumor that you get jealous of every woman who finds me attractive," Diego rejoined, with a smile of his own and a shake of his head.

"Touche," Victoria said. "So…"

"Maybe we could just say that with this outing, we finally admitted our feelings for each other. After all, no one needs to know we spent the night in this windmill instead of Santa Paula."

Victoria sighed, rose to her feet, and walked over to the blankets. "So, shall we get some sleep? The quicker we sleep, the quicker we can get back to Los Angelus and start planning our wedding."

The next day, they set off later than Victoria would have liked. However, she saw the logic in Diego's reasoning that they needed to wait a few hours after dawn to cover up the fact that they were not coming from Santa Paula.

The ride back to the pueblo was taken up with Diego explaining a lot of Zorro's deeds while including details that only Diego and Felipe had known. Many of the adventures had Victoria shaking her head in wonderment of how close Diego had been to being discovered by either the Alcalde, or herself. Diego relished in the fact that he was finally revealing all of himself to the woman he loved, and being accepted without question.

AN: Sorry if this seems overdone. I'd like to think I added a few of my own original touches to this possibly overused trope. I think all of my frustrations with Diego and Victoria suddenly exploded, and they both acted like this. Mood swings included. So I decided to go with it. Also, since I am relatively new to writing fan fiction, I am basically perfecting my craft. Thank you very much for taking the time to read, and sure hope you write a review with encouragement and/or constructive criticism. Thanks!


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